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Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 21, 2019

CHARGED AN

EXTRA £120

Q: WHAT ARE THEY?

A: SMART meters automatically

send readings to your energy

supplier. You can track how

much you are spending in

pounds and pence on a

digital screen. It is not a legal

requirement to have one.

Q: CAN I STILL

SWITCH SUPPLIER?

A: Yes, but only if you have a

newer version of the gadgets —

a SMETS2. If you have an older

version, it could go dumb (stop

working) if you try to switch.

Q: HOW MUCH DO

THEY COST?

A: You don’t have to pay

anything to have a smart

meter installed. Households

nationwide will shoulder

the collective cost through

their energy

bills. An

investigation

by the

National

Audit Office

found that

the rollout

could

cost each

dual-fuel

household

£374.

Q: WILL IT SAVE

ME MONEY?

A: Having a smart meter in

itself won’t save you money,

but it may help you keep

track on how much you are

spending and reduce your

bills as a result.

Q: IS MY DATA SAFE?

A: Privacy campaigners fear

customer data could be

vulnerable to hackers. But

the Government says the

meters are secure and have

been developed by experts

including those at GCHQ’s

National Cyber Security

Centre. You can also choose if

you want your data shared

with organisations such as

price comparison sites.

Q: IS MY SMART

METER

OLD OR

NEW?

A: The

easiest way

to find out if

you have a

SMETS1 or

SMETS2 is

by contacting

your energy

supplier.

GET WISE: THE TRUTH

ABOUT SMART METERS

66, had been paying Npower £1,032

a year for gas and electricity.

As the end of the gas deal

approached this month, she checked

Npower’s website and found the

cheapest tariff would cost her

£41.70 a month — or £501 a year.

But information on the website

instructed Sue to call Npower to

sign up. When she did, she was told

she needed a smart meter to qualify.

The cheapest tariff she could get

without one of the gadgets would

cost her £42.90 a month — an extra

£14 a year more.

Sue says: ‘I told the person on the

phone that I was disgusted; I felt

held under financial ransom. Ofgem

should be doing more to help people

who don’t want a smart meter.

‘I thought getting one was a bit

too much like Big Brother to begin

with. Then, when I kept being put

under pressure to get one, I was

even more put off.’

However, Ofgem says it cannot

dictate what suppliers charge,

which means firms can price

different types of tariffs differently.

The regulator also has no say over

tariff conditions, such as requiring

customers to have a smart meter.

An Ofgem spokesman says:

‘Choosing not to have a smart meter

CHARGED AN

EXTRA £255

CHARGED AN

EXTRA £211

may mean you don’t have access to

all the available tariffs on the market,

some of which could be cheaper.’

An Npower spokesman says: ‘Most

of the tariffs we have on sale do call

for the customer to agree to a smart

meter, but we are looking at adding

a further tariff that does not have

this requirement.’

GAS CHARGE

JUMPS BY 46%

BRITISH GAS told Steve Greene

that without a smart meter his fuel

bills would be significantly higher.

Steve, 66, and partner Nina Singh,

65, have been British Gas customers

for a decade, but the couple, who

live in Pinner, North-West London,

now plan to switch providers when

their tariff ends this month.

Steve says he currently pays

15.3p per kilowatt hour (kWh) of

electricity and 3.7p for each kWh of

gas — which works out at around

£255 a quarter for both.

When Steve called British Gas to

ask if a cheaper tariff was available,

he was told he could pay 14.7p per

kWh of electricity and 2.8p per kWh

of gas — but only if he signed up for

a smart meter. If he refused, Steve

would have to pay 18.6p per kWh of

electricity and 4.1p per kWh of gas

— some 46 pc and 27 pc more respec-

tively than the smart-meter rate.

The former shop manager says:

‘It’s not fair that suppliers can

charge you so much more just

because you don’t want one.’

A British Gas spokesman says: ‘We

are able to offer our customers

cheaper energy for managing their

accounts with smart meters and

completely online. We have a range

of tariffs so customers can find the

right one based on their needs.’

DISILLUSIONED

WITH THE BIG SIX

ROGER YOUNG has been put off

the Big Six suppliers after E.on, his

supplier of 12 years, stopped him

saving with its cheaper tariffs.

For two years, the retired engineer

and his wife Patricia, 67, paid about

£74 a month for gas and electricity.

When their tariff was due to end in

June, Roger called E.on to ask about

another fixed deal. He was told E.on’s

cheapest tariff was around £72 a

month, but to qualify, he must agree

to a smart meter. When Roger refused,

he was told he would only be able to

get the firm’s standard tariff, hiking

the couple’s payments to around £90

a month — £216 a year more.

Roger, 68, says: ‘I don’t want a

smart meter. I think they are quite

intrusive and despite being a loyal

E.on customer for 12 years, I felt I

was being pushed into a corner.’

He and Patricia, a retired carer,

decided to switch to Bulb and now

pay around £54 each month.

Roger says: ‘I wouldn’t go back to

any of the Big Six now. The whole

experience has really annoyed me.’

BOMBARDED BY

PHONE CALLS

KATHRYN and Geoffrey Saul also

ditched E.on after more than 20

years when the firm tried forcing

them to switch to its standard tariff.

The couple, who live on Anglesey,

were already fed up with all the phone

calls and emails from the supplier

about getting a smart meter.

But when Kathryn rang E.on in

May, she was shocked to discover she

could not switch to a new fixed deal

if she continued to ignore their

requests. They would instead have to

move onto the firm’s standard tariff

— adding £211 a year to their bills.

Kathryn, a retired teacher, says: ‘I

was cross about being put into this

situation just because I didn’t want

a smart meter. It doesn’t seem

lawful. We are not excessive

electricity users anyway, so a smart

meter wouldn’t save us money.’

The couple have switched to

Scottish Power and pay around £36

a month — down from £40 with E.on.

An E.on spokesman says: ‘Smart

meters are key to creating an intelli-

gent and decarbonised energy grid

which can help bring an end to using

fossil fuels for our energy needs.

‘While the obligation to install

smart meters is mandated by Ofgem,

we want to help all customers to be

more sustainable, which is why

anyone who signs up to a new fixed

tariff will be contacted about having

a smart meter fitted.’

He adds that if a customer doesn’t

want one they will be able ‘explore

our other options which might be

more suitable to their needs’.

Robert Cheesewright, of Smart

Energy GB, says: ‘We are really

pleased to see suppliers passing on

savings and offering discounted

rates to customers who choose to

install smart meters.’

[email protected]

The Last Word — Page 47

NG!

Pictures: SWNS.COM; WARREN SMITH;

SEAN DEMPSEY/M

CLELLAN

Hit with

higher tariffs

(from left):

Pat Pocock,

Kathryn and

Geoffrey Saul

and Robert

Picton

BEST DEALS IF YOU DON’T WANT ONE

GnERGY

Fixed

August

2020

Fixed until

August 31,

2020

£931 01252 494141

*Based on national average gas and electricity usage

Source: Energyhelpline.com

Supplier Tariff Term

Annual bill* Number

Orbit

Energy Variable £873 0333 103 8657

Beat The

Cap Extra

• Jul19

Av r o

Energy

12-month

fixed

£891 0330 058 2005

Simple

and

SuperSave

Nabuh

Energy

12-month

fixed

£900 0330 0414 902

Zara

Tariff

Yorkshire

Energy

Fixed until

Sep 30, 2020 £922 0333 987 4600

Green

Gazelle